When the on-playa bike repair shops replace bearings we usually have an eye toward keeping expenses reasonable. Whew...some of these sealed bearing replacements start to get pricey when replacing a couple of hundred of them. Same principle in play here that we don't find many foodie camps serving up...

One thing I did notice is that my inner pad was mostly dry. My drip ring works fine as far as wetting the outer pad, but the inner pad was only wet where it sat in the water below the big holes. I'm thinking to get the inner pad wet I'd have to run a second drip ring. Yes? No?

Dragon, if you indeed built it to spec with the correct fan (check the *exact* model number) and pump, and are still not getting good performance, here's some troubleshooting: blue pad cylinder should not touch the inside of the bucket. There should be a gap. The pad slouches when wet, so if you ha...

On balance it was another great Burn thanks to the many friends I've made over the years, but for me I'm beginning to notice that this unique event is becoming like everything else...theft, vandalism, ass-hattery, thousands of bikes dumped (not to mention tons of other MOOP), busted locks on the por...

I just went back to the OP to make sure I still had everything right...and confirmed that my cooler is exactly like the original. It didn't work well at all this year and has shown marginal performance in previous years. I don't know why I bother bringing and using it. I have a very small trailer wi...

It's hard finding a no-mesh tent, but maybe one with the least amount. I ended up stitching sections of old wool blanket to the mesh and that went a long way toward minimizing the dust sifting in from above. Worked quite well.

Does emergency airlift insurance count as a component the first aid kit? It really should! . . . I have skipped it thus far, but I remember a number of people getting it for less than $100 in order to remove the possibility of a 10K-20K airlift. IIRC we paid about $25 for playa medical evacuation i...

PM Elliot at Elliot's Naked Bike repair and Piano Bar. He, too, is seeking a piano tuner. Last year some random guy stopped by out of the dust and sat down at our piano and tuned the thing...then disappeared. We're trying to find him.

Be sure to have about a quart container of white vinegar and a spray bottle...1:10 vinegar to water ratio...playa dust is almost magnetic,..sticks to everything and even a hurricane force blower will not get it all. Vinegar/water does the trick for those hard to get places.

If it helps, there are several large, established camps which give out free clothing/costuming. I donate a large bag of things I don't use anymore every year... May I ask which camp you donate your old clothes to? I would very much like to riffle through your things. :o Several places at BRC offer ...

Our camp was able to get 2 needed Vehicle Passes through the OMG sale. When we registered for the OMG Sale I think there was a preference button for Tickets and/or Vehicle Passes. That's all we wanted...VPs. Several of us logged in from different locations and we all got taken straight thru to the V...

The more people you know ahead of time, the wider your network. You might meet someone locally who finds out they can't go or they come up with an extra ticket and to whom are they going to give it?...oh yeah...that nice person Antio I met at the gathering last week...

This is your first year, correct?You're going to get to Greeters, there's a little ritual for first-time burners that involves you getting EXTREMELY dusty, and then getting back in your car to continue to the city.You'll make Greeters sad by refusing their dusty hugs and little dust ritual and that...

FWIW...I have not been able to purchase a ticket thru the General Sale for the last 5-6 years. That said, I have been active on several Regional networks and have become friends with a fairly significant number of Burners. Participate. I owe my last several Burns to my Burner friends. And it has wor...

I have two stand-up inside tents that have been Burning for 10 years. One of them is a car-camping tent used for 20 years before the Burn...still in great shape, but well-cared for. So, they both have the dreaded mesh. I sat down with a cooler full of beer off-season, cut some sections of blanket ma...

Again...make sure that puppy is securely guyed down....ratchet straps are good. We use 12" long bolts driven into the playa by air compressor-driven drills...which is not practical for everyone, but you get the idea of the importance of securing things. Every year we see poorly secured shelters...

Use my Neti pot twice a day...after waking up and before going to bed. Small packets of saline added to DISTILLED water in the pot. Do not use tap or regular bottled water...too risky getting sinus infections. I discovered Neti pot 6 years ago and have been in nasal and sinus bliss on the playa ever...

Body painting is great fun and surely fits in with a Radical Ritual theme. One of the issues is cleanup...especially if wearing body paint for 8 days starts to get a little uncomfortable. Takes a fair amount of soap and water to get it all cleaned off, not to mention elbow grease...amd messy with pa...

I just checked RV prices in the Seattle area...about $400-$450 a day for a small Class C. I was paying about that much in my rental RV days 8-10 years ago. Loaded that baby up with 8-10 travelers sharing the cost...made it affordable, but being camp Mom was no picnic.

I pull a small camping trailer. I prefer not to tow with a full fresh water tank (300 lbs). I might carry a few gallons for the odd flush or dish washing. I always tank up at the John=O Ranch 3 miles south of Cedarville just off the highway on County Road 27 (you can see the ranch house from the hig...

Anyone have recommendations about how to properly store a large deep cycle 12V battery on playa? I assume we want to keep it out of direct sunlight, and ideally off of the playa, yeah? I'm going to be in a tent, so I could place the battery in the tent with us.... or I can try to macgyver something...